Syria walks back claim of downed Israeli fighter jet

Nov. 30 (UPI) -- The Syrian government was forced to retract a claim its forces had shot down an Israeli fighter jet in its territory, a short time after Tel Aviv said none of its planes had disappeared.

Syrian and Russian news outlets reported the shootdown, saying the jet was hit by Syrian air defenses in southern Syria Thursday. The Israeli Defense Forces, however, countered by saying it had no airplanes in that area, Haaretz reported.

The government-run Syrian Arab News Agency later deleted a reference to the shootdown and instead called it a "hostile target."

"Syrian army air defense intercepted on Thursday an aggression over the southern region and prevented it from achieving any of its targets," SANA said. "A military source told SANA that the air defenses intercepted hostile targets over al-Kiswah region and downed them.

The outlet cited sources as saying Syrian Air defenses "foiled the aggression and though its density" and "dealt with all the hostile targets and downed them."

Israeli officials said Friday it found fragments likely from a Syrian anti-aircraft missile in a field in the Golan Heights.

"At this stage, it is not clear whether a missile actually landed in our territory," an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson said in a report by Ynet News.